Sean C. Morgan
Under the proposed budget for 2020-21, the city is projecting a slight increase in police spending, less than $12,000 on a $3.1 million budget.
The increase includes a proposed reduction of 30 cents per $1,000 in assessed value in the Police Department’s tax rate, about $230,000 in revenue. Budget Committee members, by consensus, rejected that proposal while meeting on May 5 to review the police, library and community and economic development budgets. The 2020-21 budget takes effect on July 1 following approval by the Budget Committee and adoption by the City Council.
Those figures are not reflected in the proposed budget, and city staff are planning to return to the Budget Committee with a proposal for the additional funds.
Under the proposed budget, Police Department tax revenue is expected to decline from $3 million to $2.9 million, counting the initial proposed reduction in the tax levy and an anticipated increase in delinquencies in paying property taxes.
“Over the last couple of budgets, we played catch-up from where we had been,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. From about 2013 to 2016, times were lean for the department, and it had been “extremely fiscally conservative,” out of necessity.
Equipment, the patrol fleet and software lagged behind, Lynn said, and equipment was reaching “end of life.”
The last couple of years, the department has caught up, he said, including the replacement of old radios that Motorola would no longer service.
Coming up this year, Lynn said, the department intends to replace dispatch consoles, which have been in the building since it opened almost 20 years ago. The department budgeted for that this year but, thanks to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has not been able to complete the purchase.
Arlene Moody, a former employee, left $63,000 to the department to help pay for dispatch upgrades, Lynn said. Funding has been rolled forward into the proposed budget, a total of about $125,000.
The department also is seeking a grant to pay for the majority of a new vehicle for the department’s canine program. The cost is estimated at $70,000. The current vehicle, a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe, was donated by Deschutes County and now has 125,000 miles on it. The department is budgeting $20,000 to pay for equipping the vehicle.
The budget also contains $100,000 to repair a failing heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit, Lynn said. The cost is $45,000 to $60,000. The additional funding will help pay for other units that may fail.
Staff costs are projected to decrease from $2.5 million to $2.3 million. Through attrition, the department is down two police officers, Lynn said. The proposal removes one from the budget and retains one position in contingency for reinstatement depending on what the economy does in the coming year.
In the meantime, the department’s second detective is currently working on patrol, leaving the department with three shifts that have a sergeant and two police officers and one with a sergeant and one officer.
Materials and services expenses, which includes supplies, utilities, subscriptions and miscellaneous costs, increases from $433,000 to $607,000. That change is primarily thanks to the movement of a transfer from the police budget to the internal services fund, which pays management and finance expenses, from a direct transfer to an expense accounted in the materials and services budget.
Capital outlays, which includes the dispatch consoles, HVAC unit and vehicle, increases from $205,000 to $260,000. It also includes new audio equipment for the jail and training room.
The budget transfers $100,000 to capital reserves and proposes an ending fund balance of $1.4 million, down from $1.5 million for 2019-20, which ends on June 30.
Library
The proposed budget for the Sweet Home Public Library increases from $448,000 to $449,000.
Property tax revenue is projected to increase from $421,000 to $453,000.
Staffing is proposed to increase from $236,000 to $239,000, with no changes in staffing levels.
Like the Police Department, the internal services fund transfer has been moved to the materials and services budget, which increases from $162,000 to $210,000.
The proposed budget sets aside no funding for capital improvements. It had $50,000 set aside for the current fiscal year, but it continues to transfer $13,000 to capital reserves for the planning of a new building.
The library ends the proposed budget year with a $419,000 ending fund balance, funds that remain unappropriated, up from a budgeted $321,000 this year.
The Budget Committee discussed moving $135,000 in marijuana tax revenue to the library capital reserves to help pay for a new building. That funding would move from the Police Department. That transfer would be offset by not reducing the police levy tax rate as proposed.
The Budget Committee has not finalized that arrangement.
Community and Economic
Development
The budget for the Community and Economic Development Department, a General Fund department that handles planning, building, engineering, code enforcement and economic development, proposes a reduction from $657,000 to $608,000 in revenue, the bulk of that reflected in a reduction in projected building permit revenue.
Staffing costs for five employees are proposed to decrease from $542,000 to $492,000.
Materials and services decreases from $706,000 to $665,000, primarily reflected in a decrease in professional services expenses, which includes a contract with the Cascades West Council of Governments for planning services, building inspections and a consultant assisting in a comprehensive update to the city’s planning ordinances. It also includes about $465,000 in economic development funds, nearly all of which are carried over from 2019-20.
The total budget decreases from $1.25 million to $1.16 million.
Present at the meeting were City Councilors Mahler Gerson, Trask, James Goble, Gourley and Susan Coleman and citizens Bob Briana, Derek Dix, Lowman, Schaffer, Chairman Kenneth Hamlin and Lisa Willson. Absent were Dave Jurney and Councilor Cortney Nash.
To access the next meeting, 6 p.m. on May 14, visit http://www.sweethomeor.gov/community/page/live-stream on the web or call (541) 367-5128.
Last week’s meeting may also be viewed at the same web address.